ROME, Mar 05 (IPS) – “The PKK (Kurdistan Workers’ Party) should dissolve. I make this call and take historical responsibility,” read the letter from Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned leader of the Kurdish guerrilla, on Thursday, 27 February.
The statement was read at a press conference by members of the People’s Equality and Democracy Party (DEM)—Turkey’s pro-Kurdish and progressive political party—and broadcast on social media.
After four decades of armed conflict between the Kurdish guerrillas and the Turkish state, there seemed to be an opportunity to bring one of the longest-running disputes in the Middle East to an end.
Once again, Abdullah Öcalan emerges as a central figure. Born in ?anl?urfa (Ankara-controlled Kurdistan) in 1949, he was one of the founders of the PKK, which he led into armed struggle in 1984.
After years of directing the group from exile in Syria, Öcalan was captured in 1999 in Kenya by Turkish special forces while travelling from the Greek embassy to Nairobi airport.
He has since been serving a life sentence for charges of “treason” and “terrorism” on ?mral?, a small island in the Sea of Marmara between European and Asian Turkey, which houses a high-security prison.
There are 40 million Kurds spread across Iraq, Iran, Syria, and Turkey. Half of them live under Ankara’s rule, where their demands for basic rights —such as recognition of Kurdish identity, freedom of expression, and other democratic guarantees— have historically been met with repression.
Previous attempts at reconciliation between Ankara and the PKK —including the most recent in 2013 and 2009— failed. As early as 2004, Recep Tayyip Erdo?an, now Turkey’s president but then prime minister, vowed to solve the Kurdish issue.
Back in 1993, Turkey’s then-president, Turgut Özal, publicly acknowledged his Kurdish heritage and advocated for peace and dialogue. However, he was found dead in his office, with causes ranging from “cardiac arrest” and allegations of poisoning. Özal´s death also put an end to what had been a promising peace initiative.
“Öcalan’s latest letter is a continuation of that 1993 peace initiative. This could be the last chance for a democratic solution between the Kurdish people and the Turkish state,” PKK spokesman Zagros Hiwa told IPS over the phone from the Kurdish mountains.
The guerrilla fighter recalled that the PKK had declared more than ten unilateral ceasefires since the armed struggle began in 1984, the latest being announced last Saturday.
A Recurring Pattern
For the Kurds, this is a well-worn cycle of failed peace efforts. Every attempt by the PKK to initiate dialogue has placed the ball in Turkey’s court, yet Ankara has never played it back. Perhaps this explains why so many Kurds remain sceptical.
“This is the déjà vu we experience every five or ten years,” said Mehmet K., a Kurdish journalist who writes under a pseudonym for security reasons, speaking to IPS by phone from Amed (the capital of Turkish Kurdistan).
In his latest letter, Öcalan stressed that the process requires “the recognition of a democratic policy and a legal framework.” However, unlike in previous appeals, he provided no details on specific demands or a proposed roadmap.
Sources within DEM confirmed to IPS that the PKK leadership in Qandil had been consulted before the document’s publication. They also emphasised that discretion was key and that details would be discussed “at a negotiation table with the Turkish state and political parties.”
“At first glance, it seems like a blank cheque. We have no idea what they are asking for in exchange for their dissolution, so all we can do is speculate,” said Dünya Ba?ol, a political analyst and professor of International Relations at Batman University in eastern Turkey, speaking to IPS from Ankara.
According to Ba?ol, possible concessions could include recognition of Kurdish language rights, such as cultural programmes in local councils, as well as easing restrictions on civil movements and the potential release of political prisoners.
“In some ways, it would be a return to Turkey’s 1960s, when Kurds had greater freedom of expression and tensions were lower,” the analyst pointed out. However, a military coup in 1971 put an end to that period of relative openness.
A “New Paradigm”
From the Kurdish Peace Institute—an independent research organisation based in Washington with offices in Kurdistan—researcher Kamal Chomani expressed “mixed feelings” about Öcalan’s recent statement.
“History pushes me towards pessimism, but we cannot give up when there is even the slightest chance of peace,” Chomani told IPS by phone from Leipzig, Germany. He noted that the announcement comes at “a historic moment when the Middle East is being reshaped.”
According to Chomani, possible Kurdish demands could include constitutional recognition of the Kurdish language, amnesty for guerrilla fighters, some autonomy, and greater political representation within the Turkish state.
“This would be a roadmap that Turkey must accept if it wants lasting peace,” he argued. He also stressed that the Kurdish issue “is no longer just a security problem or an internal affair, but an international matter that Turkey can no longer ignore.”
The Kurds in Syria, just across Turkey’s southern border, have been self-governing since 2012 under the principles of democratic confederalism—a progressive and decentralised political model outlined by Öcalan while in captivity.
Ankara has responded to this ideological affinity with military interventions in Kurdish-Syrian areas, using allied Islamist militias to seize territory and displace hundreds of thousands. Meanwhile, Turkish airstrikes on key infrastructure in northeast Syria continue unabated.
But with Turkey’s growing influence following the fall of Assad’s regime in Syria—replaced by an Islamist government sympathetic to Ankara— what incentive does Erdo?an have to offer anything to the Kurds?
Chomani questions the nature of Turkey’s supposed victory and believes there are still many unanswered questions.
“Turkey is militarily stronger than in 2015, but economically and socially, it is far weaker. Moreover, we still don’t know what direction Syria will take under Ahmed Al Sharaa (the country’s current president). I believe he will align more closely with the Saudis, Turkey’s regional rivals,” Chomani explained.
While the PKK has openly expressed its willingness to disarm, the Kurdish-Syrian forces of the Syrian Democratic Forces —whom Ankara considers an extension of the PKK— have distanced themselves from any potential disarmament as part of a Turkish peace process.
According to Chomani, Öcalan´s recent announcement marks a “new paradigm” in which armed struggle would be replaced by political and social activism.
“The guerrillas would have taken this step back in 1993 had Özal’s initiative succeeded,” lamented the Kurdish expert. Three decades and tens of thousands of deaths later, the ball is once again in Turkey’s court.
© Inter Press Service (2025) — All Rights Reserved. Original source: Inter Press Service
